.62 smoothbore as an all around gun?

I have been considering buying a Pedersoli indian trade musket and was wondering how both ball and shot patterned, there are times I'm out hunting and may be gone for several days and decide to hunt something else for a little while well at least if I had a gun to do it. I know that if you remove the ball you can load in some #4 shot and if patterns decent enough it'd be great for squirrel and rabbit, maybe even crows. Me and my dad are planning on going into a certain national forest we hunt often and we're planning on going in for about a week to squirrel and rabbit hunt in February, so I just want something that can be used for everything without buying a $2-3,000 sxs muzzleloading shotgun, I know this question/s was long but any experience in this would be greatly appreciated!

SXS shot guns are a lot cheaper than $2-$3000.

Good solid percussion doubles can often be found for $600. Load the right barrel with ball and the left with shot. Bang! Bang!

If I could only have one ML, it would be a smoothbore flinter.

I'd go buy an English Trade Gun in 62-cal for ~$1,800 from Rob Miller (posts on here as 'Rob M.') for an awesome CUSTOM fowler!

I use my .62/20 for everything. Sometimes I wish I had something in the 16ga area for waterfowl.

The Trade Gun by Pedersoli would be available now; waiting for a custom would take you into 2015!

Do-able? Yes. within the limits of a smoothbore flinter. Practical? Not always. Flinters are harder to shoot. No question there. Some people are better than others at it. In theory, a percussion smoothbore would be the most all-around useful to me. But as with anything, the more adaptable it is, the worse it is at any one task. I've used my trade gun for turkey, coots & dove. I've never gotten good enough with a flintlock to use it for big game. Now I'm looking to sell my trade gun and I picked up a percussion double. I don't know how well that double will shoot roundball yet since I've only goofed around with it so far. I know there's going to be a fair bit of Kentucky windage involved. But it will be a much better shotgun for shotgunning purposes. And my rifles shoot roundball better than any smoothbore I've shot.

Yet my mind keeps thinking about some kind of percussion smoothbore in .58...

I found the 28ga to be good for shot and ball. It will do everything well except shoot flying birds.

rich pierce said:

Good solid percussion doubles can often be found for $600. Load the right barrel with ball and the left with shot. Bang! Bang!

Click to expand...

I've seen those but my biggest concern is with the experience that I have with cap lock firearms isn't good, the caps have always been loose fitting and easily fall off, and I'd be hunting squirrels and rabbits in the extremely thick cherry laurels in which I'd be crawling on my hands and knees, caps can easily fall off in all those branches, that's a big concern with cap lock firearms

springfield art said:

The Trade Gun by Pedersoli would be available now; waiting for a custom would take you into 2015!

Click to expand...

2015! Wow that is quick. Awesome

I use a flintlock smoothbore 62 as an all around gun and so does my son. My sons smoothbore has a small rear sight which helps shorten the learning curve for shooting roundball but mine doesn't, it just took more practice. For roundball you will probably have to keep your shots in the 50-60 yard range and because it will be Cyl. bore your shots will be in the 20-25 yds with shot.

My .62 Centermark TFC would be my first choice if I was a one gun in the wilderness
Thumper and Rocky to Bulwinkle does it all

If I had known what I know now I would have gotten a .62 flintlock to start.

Troy said:

I've seen those but my biggest concern is with the experience that I have with cap lock firearms isn't good, the caps have always been loose fitting and easily fall off, and I'd be hunting squirrels and rabbits in the extremely thick cherry laurels in which I'd be crawling on my hands and knees, caps can easily fall off in all those branches, that's a big concern with cap lock firearms

Click to expand...

Buy new nipples or the right size percussion caps and they won’t come off. But I get it and prefer flint also.

I have both a 62 smooth bore AND a 12 gauge double.

My 62 is a flinter and the 12 bore is percussion. The 62 is a 60 or 70 yard hunter with .595 balls and a .018 patch. I can hit a pie plate at 60 to 70 yards pretty consistently ( this is the heart/lung area of venison. It will throw #4 shot into a very nice pattern at 25 to 30 yards as well using 80 grains 2F powder.

The 12 bore wears a set of express style sights and will group patched balls from both barrels into that pie plate at 40 to 50 yards. If just shooting the right barrel I think I could group them pretty close into that pie plate at 60ish yards.

If I were gonna arm myself with a gun like you are talking about for short jaunts on trails where the swing would not be interrupted by brush, then I would go with the flintlock 62 smooth bore and carry it with shot for the camp fare and if n when I were in the company of say venison, I would pull the overshot card and drop the shot out , then thrust down a patched ball for the larger critter. Nice swamped barrel for a lightweight easy carrying gun and very agil on swinging on the small table game.

The ultimate gun would be the percussion12 bore loading the right barrel with patched ball and the left barrel with #4 shot. This is a bit more cumbersome to carry in my opinion but instantly ready for whatever pops its head up. Just need the nipples and caps to fit each other and they will certainly stay put till the shot is required.

Learning curve is WAY less on the percussion gun as well. Fun value is very much in the flintlocks arena tho. Either will serve ya well.

Wouldn't sell a 600 dollar double gun short in percussion tho. They are cheaper to get into AND will consistently put dinner on the supper table. Very likely be my choice if I were to be in the brush for an extended time.

I just love the 20 ga. smooth bore trade gun . Very versatile gun. I can hunt anything in this country with it . I make my own powder and even gather flint out of the creek for it ! LOL ...just a neat aspect of it let alone the history of the type . Love all trade guns but esp. N.W. guns .

Flint62Smoothie said:

I'd go buy an English Trade Gun in 62-cal for ~$1,800 from Rob Miller (posts on here as 'Rob M.') for an awesome CUSTOM fowler!

Click to expand...

Thanks bud

The 62 cal smoothbore flinter gets my vote everytime. Shot for smallgame, rabbit, squirrel, etc. Round ball for big game.
It has become my go to gun for everything, including club shoots.
Kevin

All good advice. Smoothbore was original game getter for
Colonists and in the Frontier of Early America. Wisdom of the Flinters is that you never have the Elite ESG crowd pulling
caps off the market and choking down production of caps.